James is 50!

I met James when he was seventeen and I was sixteen, so it's hard to believe that my teenage boyfriend has turned 50 today! Last night we had a small celebration with family and close friends; James was certain that he did not want a big party. So there were fifteen of us, and it was a really nice evening; most important James thoroughly enjoyed it. I got all the food from Mise en Place and of course ordered too much. In our house that is not too serious, we have eaten up all the leftovers already. David and I went over to Dream Cakes in the morning to collect James' cake. This was in the shape of a mountain with snow on the top and a wee climber with walking poles and a rucksack making his way to the summit.
We had some debate about how to set out the back room so that fifteen people could sit down and eat; we finally settled on a large informal circle with various tables placed around so that people had somewhere to stash their drinks while eating. The meal went down well, then Jamie poured champagne for everyone and the cake was ceremoniously carried in by the boys, who had also put 50 candles in a second cake, the joke being that there was not room for so many candles on his birthday cake! We sang Happy Birthday, then the boys made a speech to James, each of them contributing a short part. Jamie thanked James for teaching them about science and technology, and said it had inspired his interest in medicine. Ally thanked James for taking them hill-walking and recalled an occasion when they got lost at the Hidden Valley. Davie thanked James for encouraging his interest in science and "all the useless facts" he has told them - and the useful facts too! Jamie concluded by thanking James for always being there for them and asking everybody to raise their glasses for a toast "To James". All three boys were very sweet and made a lovely job of it, and I could tell that James was very pleased. The rest of the evening was spent chatting in the lounge and it was all good fun. At the end of the evening when everyone else had gone Heather, Ewan and I told James about our forthcoming trip to Paris, he was surprised and pleased. The boys all helped us to clear up, they were all chatting about boy things, it was really nice.
Today was a much quieter day. We all had a long lie then James and I went for a walk at the Heritage Park, we were talking about all the things we will be doing in Paris. This evening we watched the last three episodes of the first series of Mad Men which was brilliant, we are definitely going to get the second series. I think James has had a very good birthday.